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Lack of demand transparency handcuffing markets… Chinese trade talks advanced this week, but there was no official figure on how many U.S. soybeans China would buy and speculation grew that its goodwill purchases could be already completed. Without daily/weekly export sales figures that are shelved by the ongoing government shutdown, s...

Lack of demand transparency handcuffing markets… Chinese trade talks advanced this week, but there was no official figure on how many U.S. soybeans China would buy and speculation grew that its goodwill purchases could be already completed. Without daily/weekly export sales figures that are shelved by the ongoing government shutdown, soybean futures dropped, despite mounting weather concerns and falling crop estimates for Brazil. Corn futures were pulled lower by the selling in soybeans and the void of demand news. The lack of demand transparency due to the government shutdown limited buying in the wheat market, too. Cattle futures rebounded sharply from the previous week’s pullback, with many contracts surging to new highs amid strong beef demand and rising cash cattle prices. February hogs were supported by strengthening cash hog bids, but traders removed some premium from deferred contracts.

USDA’s government shutdown postponed the January crop reports, which were originally scheduled for today. In the absence of USDA’s data, we updated our balance sheets for corn, soybeans and wheat.